One-piece resilient socket



March 18, 1952 D. I. REITER ONE-PIECE RESILIENT SOCKET Original Filed March 25, 1946 xes mm I N V EIY TOR. Dam 'e] f. Rezter T TOR )VEY Patented Mar. 18, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 8 Claims. 1

This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 656,681 filed March 23, 1946, now abandoned.

This invention relates to snap fasteners and particularly to the resilient sockets of so-called laundry-proof fasteners which are madeof a single piece of sheet material.

When garments such as men's shorts; are laundered, some of the garment material may be folded and squeezed under considerable pressure into a socket of the snap fasteners thereon, thereby putting such excess stress upon the socket as to distort it and to render it inoperative or incapable of engaging, holding or releasing its cooperating stud. Since the socket must be made of one piece to maintain its cost within allowable limits, the socket could 'be strengthened heretofore only by using thicker material. 7

The present invention therefore contemplates the provision of a one-piece resilient socket adapted releasably to engage a cooperating stud and having a stud-engaging part shaped and integrally strengthened to resist the stresses induced by machine laundering operations upon the garment to which the socket is secured.

The invention further contemplates the provision of a strong and efficient one-piece socket having the walls thereof doubled into contact throughout the entire lengths thereof and selfbraced against buckling at the points where the stresses thereon are greatest, and having a rounded resilient part of two contacting thicknesses of material adapted to snap into the stud neck and permitting the easy passage of the stud head therepast, whereby the socket may bemade of relatively thin sheet metal but thestrength of the socket where most needed is quivalent to that of much thicker metal.

The invention further contemplates the provision of a resilient fold oftwo contacting thicknesses of material surrounding the stud en rance opening at the lower end of the stud receiving compartment, the fold being adapted to provide maximum strength against permanent distortion while employing a minimum amount of material and being spaced upwardly of the surrounding'p'ortion of the socket out of the way of the mangle rolls when the garment to which the socket is attached is laundered, the other or upper end of the stud-receiving compartment a thumb .or finger piece upon whicnpr'essure-may be exerted when the stud is to be snapped into place and providing a projecting part adapted to slide down the raceway of a fastener setting machine in a predetermined position thereby to insure proper setting of the socket. V

The various objects of the invention will be clear from the description which follows and from the drawings, in which Fig. l is a partial vertical sectional view of the socket made by a radial sectioning plane and partial elevational view as the socket appears attached to a garment. v

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the socket.

Figs. 3 and 4 are fragmentary sectional views each similar to Fig. 1 and each showing a modifled form of the resilient fold at the stud entrance opening of the socket.

In the practical embodiment of the invention shown by way of example, the socket is formed of a single piece of sheet metal and is held to the material ID of the garment by the pronged washer ll having an annular part engaging one side .of the material and provided with spaced prongs l2 around its inner edge, the prongs passing through the material and being forced against thecurved inner wall I 3 of the annular anvil portion M of the socket, which is arranged on the other side of the material In. It will be under: stood that when the washer H and the socket are pressed together with the material therebetween, the prongs are bent outwardly by the anvil wall I3 and are thereby spread sufiiciently to .prevent separation of the parts-the upwardly and inwardly bent top portion l5 of the anvil part enclosing the prongs and providing an annular opening I6 between the top portion and the Wall [3 for the entrance of the prongs into the anvil part of the socket. v

The stud-receiving compartment ll of the socket is an important feature of the invention. Said compartment comprises an outer cylindrical wall l8, an imier cylindrical wall l9 in contact with the outer wall throughout the entire lengths of said walls and an end closing wall 20 preferably completely closing the top of the inner wall. The inner diameter of the wall [8 is equal to the outer diameter of the wall l9, said walls being of uniform diameters and thicknesses throughout whereby the adjacent surfaces of the walls are in close contact and said walls are self-bracing against buckling and substantially equivalent in compressive strength and resistance to'distortion to a singlewall of double the thickness of eachlndiyi'dual wall. The wall [8 is integrally 22 below said bends.

part I4 and may be bent or folded into various shapes other than that shown in Fig. 1 and as is shown in Figs. 3 and 4 which will be described in detail hereinafter. V the fold or bend 22 at the lowermost part of the walls I8 and I9 integrally joins said walls and also forms the rim of the stud-receiving compartment, being adapted to engage the neck of a cooperating stud. Said fold 22 subtends an angle of 180 and comprises two substantially fiat contacting marginal portions 23 and 24, the portion 23 extending downwardly and inwardly from the bottom of the wall I8 and the portion 24 similarly extending downwardly and inwardly from the l wall I9 and being slightly shorter than the portion 23.

The rim 22 of the socket surrounding the stud entrance opening 25 is consequently of two thicknesses of material in pressed contact with each other and therefore'substantially equal in strength to a rim of a single thickness but of twice the thickness of the sheet metal of which the socket'is made. Since the rim 22 is bent at an obtuse angle from the walls I8, I9, the bends 26, 21 joining the portions 23, 24 respectively tothe respective walls each subtend an angle between 90 and 180 thereby to arrange the fold In order that the socket be resilient, the fold 22 as well as the portions 23-, 24 and the'adjacent upright parts of the walls I8, I9 are provided with .circumferentially spaced apart slits or slots 28 extending upwardly into the upright parts of said walls I8, I9 a distance approximately equal to the lengths of the portions 23 or 24, thereby separat-'- f ing the rim 22 and the lowermost part of the socket compartment into sections independent of each other while the rigidity of the remainder of the compartment is retained. The thus separated sections may yield outwardly under the pressure of the stud head, but snap back into place after the stud has been inserted into the compartment IT. The fold sections and the adjacent wall parts similarly yield when the stud is withdrawn from the compartment or when the socket is under pressure in a mangle.

The domed top wall 20 of the compartment functions As illustrated in Fig. l,-

34. The portions 3|, 32 are in pressed contact throughout the entire areas thereof as are the Walls I8 and I9 as hereinbefore explained in connection with the portions 23, 24 of Fig. 1.

In the form shown in Fig. 4, the fold 35 integrally joins the portions 36 and 3'! which extends outwardly and downwardly from the respective adjacent rim portions 38 and 39. Said portions 38 and 39 in turn extend downwardly and inwardly from the respective walls I8 and I9 similarly to the portions 23 and 24 of Fig. l, but are preferably shorter than said portions 23, 24. The bends 40 and 4| at the upper ends of the respective portions 38 and 39 and joining said portions respectively to the lowermost upright parts of the walls I8 and I9 therefore subtend obtuse angles, while the fold 35 is lower than said bends. The intermediate bend 42 joins the portions 38 and 33', while the bend 43 joins the portions 39 and 31 and serves as the stud-neck engaging part of the socket. It will be understood that the adjacent walls 58, I9 are in pressed contact with each other as are the portions 38, 33 and the portions 36, 31 for the self-bracing purpose hereinbefore described.

It will further be understood that the inwardly extending portions 23, '24; 3I, 32 or 36, 3'! of the socket rim in all the forms described, serve to provide a rib or bead increasing the strength of the rim and that the doubling of the thickness by pressed contact of the entire areas of the portions with each other additionally strengthens; the rim as well as the remaining imperforate part of the compartment I1. It will also be seen that the walls I8, I9 areupright and rigid and act together as a unit being in spaced relation to the tapered wall I3 of the anvil part and therefore unaffected by distortion of said wall I3.

While certain specific embodiments of the invention have herein beenshown and described, various changes may obviously be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A one-piece resilient socket of material of uniform thickness, the socket having a stud-re- 'ceiving compartment of double thickness and being elsewhere of a single thickness, said socket comprisingan anvil portion terminating in a free top portion adapted to be arranged at one side of an imperforate sheet of material to which the socket is to be attached, the compartment betion, said compartment having an inner upright tending upwardly and inwardly from the lower ends of the upright parts ofithe, respective walls I8 and I9. At the respective outer ends 'of said p'ortionsSl and 32 the bends 33"and ,34'join said portionsto the walls I8 and. I9, eachof s'aid bends subtending an angle less than wherebyv the rim fold 39 is arranged above said bends 33,

cylindrical wall of uniform outer diameter and thickness and an outer upright cylindrical wall of uniform inner diameter equal to the outer diameter of the inner wall, said inner and outer walls being in pressed contact throughout the entire areas thereof and being movable only as a unit in any direction, a first outwardly convex f bend subtending an angle of integrally connecting the lowermost edge portion of the inner and outer walls, said edge portions of .the walls being in pressed contact with each other throughout the entire areas thereof and extending inwardly away from the surfaces of the walls and thereby forming a conical socket-rim part of uniformly decreasing diameter in.a direction away from the upright walls, the. edge portions constituting a bead of two contacting thickne'sses of material movable only as a unit and being immovable relatively to each other, a second bend subtending an angle of less than 180 connecting one edge portion with the adjacent part of the outer wall, a third bend subtending the same angle as the second bend and in pressed contact therewith and movable only as a unit therewith and connecting the other edge portion with the adjacent part of the inner wall, the walls having spaced upright slots therein extending through the bend, through the bead and through the lowermost parts of the contacting portions of the inner and outer walls not more than half way upwardly into the stud-receiving compartment, the remaining upper parts of the inner and outer walls being imperforate and relatively rigid, the top of the outer well being below the top of the inner wall and being joined by an upwardly convex bend to the adjacent wall of the anvil portion, said adjacent wall tapering downwardly and outwardly from the last mentioned convex bend and being in spaced relation to and out of contact with the inner and outer walls, a domed imperforate wall on the top of the compartment integrally and solidly joined to the imperforate upper part of the inner wall above the top of the outer wall, the inner and outer walls mutually reinforcing each other against buckling inwardly and outwardly under abnormal compressive forces thereon and only the lowermost parts of said walls and said edge portions yielding outwardly as a unit about the tops of the slots as fulcrums under the expanding force of a stud entering the compartment and exerting such expanding force on the bead.

2. The socket of claim 1, the contacting slotted edge portions of the inner and outer walls constituting the bead being inclined downwardly and inwardly at an obtuse angle to the inner and outer walls.

3. The socket of claim 1, the contacting slotted edge portions of the inner and outer walls constituting the bead being inclined upwardly and inwardly at an acute angle to the inner and outer walls.

4. The socket of claim 1, the contacting slotted edge portions of the inner and outer walls constituting the bead being inclined first downwardly and inwardly at an obtuse angle to the inner and outer walls and then tapering downwardly and outwardly.

5. A one-piece socket having a stud-receiving compartment open and slotted at its lower end and the remainder of the compartment being imperforate and rigid; said compartment having an imperforate closing Wall across its top and having a pair of upright cylindrical Walls in contact with each other along the entire adjacent areas thereof to provide two contacting thicknesses of material in the compartment at said walls, said walls rigidifying the compartment except at said lower slotted end and acting as a unit under the stresses put thereon during a laundering operation upon a garment to which the socket is attached, said walls terminating at the lower ends thereof in an integral convex bend subtending an angle of the slotted marginal edge portions of the walls being in contact with each other and extending at an angle to the axis of the compartment and inwardly away from the Walls and constituting an inwardly overhanging stud-neck-engaging bead adjacent the rims of said walls, a pair of contacting bends, one in each wall intermediate the head and the tops of the respective upright walls, each bend of the pair subtending the same angle and less than 180, and an annular prong-bending portion having a tapering wall extending downwardly and outwardly from and in outward spaced relation to the outer wall, the top of said inner wall and said closing wall being above the top of the tapering wall.

6. The socket of claim 5, the marginal edge portions extending downwardly and inwardly at an obtuse angle to the inner and outer walls.

7. The socket of claim 5, the marginal edge portions extending upwardly and inwardly at an acute angle to the inner and outer walls.

8. The socket of claim 5, the marginal edge portions extending first downwardly and inwardly at an obtuse angle to the inner and outer walls and then tapering downwardly and outwardly.

DANIEL I. REITER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name v Date 2,015,049 Carr Sept. 17, 1935 2,131,347 Fenton Sept. 27, 1938 

